409: Chapter 49, The Battle Begins_2 409: Chapter 49, The Battle Begins_2 Compared to the one-sided Ruilin Army, the performance of the Orton Duchy’s Expeditionary Army was slightly better.
Thanks to the king, the nobles of the Orton Duchy tend to be more proactive.
The Commander-in-Chief, Remondo, has the good habit of early morning training, which has also instilled good habits in his officers and soldiers.
Although their camp’s defenses were also inadequate, they discovered the Bimon cavalry a little earlier.
Of course, this “earlier” only meant spotting the enemy a few miles ahead.
As for the sentinels who were sent out, it was clear without any thought that they didn’t report back in time, probably they met the Lord of the Dawn earlier than expected.
Of course, this is also uncertain.
The speed of the Bimon cavalry in a mad gallop surpassed that of most war horses.
Even if they discovered the enemy’s movement a few miles ahead, by the time the scout horses returned, the enemy would likely follow them into the main camp.
Even sending distress signals with smoke would be useless.
The sky had just brightened, and the mist of the early morning had not yet dissipated, greatly affecting visibility.
The slightly increased preparation time allowed most of the Orton Duchy’s soldiers to put on their armor and pick up their weapons.
Unfortunately, the time was still too short to arrange and deploy troops.
However, given the speed of their response, even if they had started preparing the moment the Bimon cavalry set off, they would still not have completed the arrangement and deployment of the troops.
While Marshal Remondo was commanding the battle, he was also deeply mired in self-blame and regret.
If he had fortified the camp more securely and arranged more traps outside the main camp for the Bimon cavalry, they wouldn’t be so passive now.
All these problems stemmed from a lack of experience.
If they were trying to contain human cavalry, these preparations would have been more than sufficient.
Unfortunately, the Bimon beasts are much stronger than war horses; small traps are nothing more than tickles to them.
…
Watching the distress signals rising, Crown Prince Caesar’s heart was collapsing.
The Orc army was completely playing by unconventional rules.
Ignoring his Central Army Camp and instead dividing their troops to surprise attack the allies on both wings, it was completely unethical.
As mortal enemies, condemnation was meaningless.
Being criticized by the enemy was a compliment in itself.
The harsher the criticism, the happier the Orcs would be.
“How many Bimon cavalry have gone out?
How bad has the situation deteriorated now?”
Crown Prince Caesar asked worriedly.
The distance between the two camp sites was only the last ten miles, so the Bimon cavalry leaving early in the morning couldn’t hide from the Expeditionary Army.
Regrettably, the enemy also wasn’t far from the ambushed allied camp.
At the same time the news came back, the distress signal was lit too.
“Judging from the movement, the Bimon clan probably dispatched about four to five thousand cavalry, divided into two paths to launch simultaneous surprise attacks.
The news just transmitted by the Gryphon Cavalry is that the Expeditionary Army of the Ruilin Kingdom has begun to collapse, and the Expeditionary Army of the Orton Duchy is likely not able to hold on much longer either.
As for the Moxi’s New Corps who was acting in concert with them, though they did not suffer from the Bimon army’s attack, they nevertheless fell into chaos.”
Count Jose replied solemnly.
This answer undoubtedly hurt Crown Prince Caesar.
It was originally agreed that everyone would send their elite troops to support the Moxi Duchy, but it turned out they were all of low-quality.
There are only four to five thousand Bimon cavalries in total, and even they have to divide into two separate paths.
On average, an army corps faced only a cavalry corps.
Earlier, when the First Legion annihilated a Bimon cavalry corps, everyone clamored that they could do it too, and Caesar actually believed they had all sent elites.
Now, they don’t even need to go out and encircle the Bimon cavalry corps, they just need to hold their main camp, but they still let the enemy break it.
This is not a question of inadequate preparedness or being ambushed, it’s simply that their own combat capability is not up to par.
If this had happened to elite forces, even if they had been ambushed by Bimon cavalry, they could quickly respond and chase the enemy away.
With a ten times advantage in troop numbers, they could even pile up their casualties to wear down the Bimon Cavalry.
A direct cavalry charge into the main camp was itself a high-risk gamble.
Most of the cases recorded in history are of successful gamblers.
The many more unsuccessful gamblers disappeared into oblivion.
Unfortunately, the Bimon cavalry are presently the victors.
Their success does not lie in strategic control, but rather in the incompetence of their opponents.
Send reinforcements?
As soon as the thought appeared, Crown Prince Caesar decisively snuffed it out.
While there is a political necessity to aid allies, military constraints make it impossible.
With limited cavalry at his disposal, sending aid to allies risks sacrificing his own troops as well.
Gazing at the map for a while, Crown Prince Caesar made a ruthless decision, “The flanking battles are far from being concluded, let our allies engage the Bimon cavalry slowly!
The enemy is attacking both flanks, which makes this is the most vulnerable moment for our base camp.
Give the order, the whole army will advance directly towards the Orc Army!”
Count Jose wanted to say something, but swallowed his words.
Now is indeed the best time for decisive battle, with half of the Bimon cavalry centered on the flanks, the central army camp will certainly be weak.
The Expeditionary Armies of the Ruilin Kingdom and Orton Duchy may not be highly skilled, but they are numerous.
Along with the two Moxi New Corps acting in concert, the total military strength is over sixty thousand.
Even if unable to defeat the Bimon cavalry, they could significantly wear them down.
Exhausting their energy, even if the Bimon cavalry were to immediately end the battle and return to camp, they would be weary troops.
Regardless of how elite the forces are, they can’t withstand such exhaustion.
Without proper recuperation, no more than half of their fighting capabilities can be exerted if they reengage in battle.
Such a golden opportunity, if missed, may mean a difficult battle against the Bimon Army in the future.
The only problem is the distance of ten miles between the two main camps.
To launch an attack, even forsaking all baggage, would take at least an hour to reach the battlefield.
Thinking of the baggage, Count Jose suddenly looked grave and hurriedly said:
“Your Highness, if we attack the enemy camp, their cavalry operating on the flanks may very well raid our base camp.
Our food supply and baggage are all located within the camp.
If the enemy cavalry were to seize it, even winning this battle would present us with major problems.”
It would be more than just serious trouble, it would be disastrous.
Should we lose the food supply and baggage, even with the Moxi People’s support, it would be difficult to assemble provisions for the army for some time.
Morale would be basically non-existent with soldiers going hungry.
The invading Orc Army is not just from the Bimon Tribe, any encounter with other Royal Orc Armies could have unthinkable consequences.
“Leave it to the Moxi New Corps to guard, they cannot help in the war anyway, they may as well stay and protect the home camp.
Our base camp is quite strong, as long as they learn from their previous mistakes, it is not difficult to fend off the enemy cavalry’s attack on the camp.”
Said Crown Prince Caesar, completely unfazed.
There have been plenty of instances of cavalry attacking camps, but all were based on the situation where the opponent was unprepared.
No camp that had prepared in advance and had early deployment of soldiers had been broken into by cavalry before.
It’s not that they can’t get in, just the price that had to be paid was too great.
If the loss during the attack on the camp is too significant, even forcibly breaking into the camp would mean a pyrrhic victory.
If exchanging tens of thousands of Expeditionary Armies could eliminate a Bimon cavalry corps, Crown Prince Caesar would unhesitatingly say – deal.
Helpless, the Cannon Fodder Legion is just that cheap.
In every previous Orc invasion, the casualties for the Alpha Kingdom’s army have started in the millions.
The sight of every family weeping and every household in mourning is a true reflection of the people’s suffering.
Having seen this many times in history, Caesar had long become indifferent to the numbers.
With an order, the imposing expeditionary army stepped out of the camp, aiming directly at the central army of the Orcs.
…
Inside the Orc Army camp, Prince Butzwieg looked at the human army appearing over the flat horizon with a cold smirk.
He muttered, “Finally, they have come out!”
“Pass on my command, let the tribal leaders lead their armies to attack at will.
No matter how they fight, they must persist for at least one hour before they can retreat!
Satuk, send a message to our old friends, tell them the fish has taken the bait, it’s time to draw the net…”